MADRID, Ia. — The former Pizza Palace on the corner of North Street and Kennedy Avenue here slid deeper and deeper into disrepair.

By the time the city tracked down the owners in California and declared the business a dangerous property, inspectors said it had to be torn down.

Madrid has at least eight more buildings like it, Mayor Dirk Ringgenberg said. “But this one’s the saddest property in town.”

Derelict and abandoned properties have been a focus of conversation during this summer’s Reader's Watchdog series on Des Moines’ neighborhoods.

But Ringgenberg says neglected properties — mostly commercial — are having a big effect on smaller communities such as Madrid. That's especially true when owners live out of state or can’t or won’t bring them up to code.

He questions if state leaders could find a way to streamline the years-long judicial process required for cities to address nuisances before they can take possession.

Such a move, he said, not only would significantly reduce the high price to local taxpayers, but it would allow local officials to save buildings before they must be torn down.

Experts say the time and expense neglected properties demand are proving too much for hundreds of small Iowa towns. At the same time, their renovation or demolition is critical for economic growth and stability.

“The mayor’s right. It's a big problem,” said Alan Kemp, the executive director of the Iowa League of Cities. “One could argue, and this is not to diminish Des Moines’ problem, that small towns have a tougher time with this. They don’t have the resources."

Madrid Mayor Dirk Ringgenberg outside a neglected property in town that has been declared dangerous.(Photo: Lee Rood)

Complaints around Iowa are so widespread that League of Cities workers and others at Keep Iowa Beautiful are collaborating to give Gov. Kim Reynolds and legislators a better idea of the scope.

The costs associated with public nuisances ranked near the top of critical needs identified in the organization’s report this year titled the “Future of Small Town Iowa.”

The league, Schnepf said, is surveying communities about residential and commercial derelict and abandoned properties, hoping legislation will be possible in the next session.

“The question is: Do you want to spend time and money on small towns?” he asked. “Not all of them are going to make it, but we have to give them a chance.”

A neglected property in the heart of town in Madrid, which is being rented to tenants.(Photo: Lee Rood)

In 2015, legislators tried to create a low-interest loan program for municipalities to help finance the high cost of acquiring and demolishing abandoned and nuisance properties.

A bill during the 2015 legislative session would have created such a program under the Iowa Economic Development Authority that also included due process for property owners.

But it went nowhere for lack of funding, Kemp said.

“The loan program could have been self-perpetuating,” he said. “Maybe if the state’s budget improves, they could at least get the thing started.”

Iowa Code allows municipalities to seek possession of commercial and residential properties after an attorney proves in court they’ve been abandoned.

But property owners must be given due process and time to make improvements.

Sometimes, a building owner will make a change as minor as moving dirt, and the clock provided by the municipality resets all over again, Ringgenberg said.

It’s not uncommon for the process to take years, and during that time towns have to pay attorneys to keep it moving, at taxpayer expense.

Important lots — even in a town experiencing healthy growth such as Madrid — deteriorate. In Madrid, demolition costs for commercial buildings have run $10,000 to $30,000, he said.

“And in smaller towns, it’s important to save as many historic buildings as possible,” Riggenberg said.

Kemp said the issue also matters to towns that need affordable housing.

Scott Flagg, an environmental specialist at the Department of Natural Resources, said he also hears about the time and expense of overseeing a program that attempts to help cities with the cost of derelict buildings.

The program offers communities of 5,000 or fewer residents’ financial assistance to address neglected commercial structures vacant for at least six months.

In July, the state agency chose 19 projects across the state to make use of about $400,000 in annual funding.

Since 2011, more than 56 communities have saved $1.5 million in landfill disposal costs, he said.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her atlrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.

Watchdog Unleashed

The concept: Reader's Watchdog columnist Lee Rood hatched the idea on a cold night when she wanted to get back to her favorite solo activity: walking. When spring arrived, Rood resolved to break up her well-worn routes to rediscover the 52 neighborhoods that populate her hometown of 20 years.

For the next few months, she'll focus reporting on the big issues facing some of those neighborhoods.